The Dragon May Be Powerful but the Midges Are Many
by Kruemel the House-elf
Summary: How Professor Snape was saved by the Underestimated. A different outcome of "Deathly Hallows"


Kruemel's notes:  
#1 Kruemel wrote this story because his Mistress wasn't pleased with the end of _Deathly Hallows_. She was especially saddened by the fate of poor Professor Snape. So, Kruemel invented a different ending.  
#2 Kruemel apologises for his clumsy English. He is a house-elf from Germany and writing English is difficult for him.

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created by the venerable Mrs Joanne Kathleen Rowling. Harry Potter and other trademarks are owned by said Lady and also by various Muggle business people including but not limited to Carlsen Verlag GmbH, Bloomsbury Books and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.  
Kruemel owns nothing.

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The Dragon May Be Powerful, but the Midges Are Many

by Kruemel the House-elf

I haven't learned anything from Lockhart except not to set pixies loose.  
Ronald Bilius Weasley

"It cannot be any other way," the Most-Evil-Wizard-Of-All-Time said. "I must master the wand. Master the wand, and I master Potter at last."  
_Crack_.  
_Crack. Crack_.  
Three house-elves stood between the The-Most-Evil-Wizard-Of-All-Time and the Not-Quite-So-Evil-Wizard. Both men looked confused. No doubt, they had forgotten that house-elves could Apparate where humans couldn't.  
The-Most-Evil-Wizard-Of-All-Time raised his wand. He pointed it at the first house-elf and hissed, "Out of the way, filthy creature!"  
The second house-elf bolted forward and drew herself against the The-Most-Evil-Wizard-Of-All-Time's wand arm. The spell missed.  
_Crack_.  
_Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack_.  
More house-elves Apparated. Two of them were carrying a large cage packed tightly with Cornish pixies. One of them lifted the latch.  
The pixies pushed the door open and shot out of the cage like rockets. They attacked the wizards straight away. They pulled at their robes; they ripped holes into their coats. Several pixies were running up the The-Most-Evil-Wizard-Of-All-Time's legs. They bit him wherever they could get their sharp teeth through the fabric of his trousers. He screamed, but more with rage than with pain because most of the pixies now attacked the enchanted sphere that protected the snake. Here was another thing he had forgotten: Pixies fed on the kind of magic from which the snake's protection was made.  
The-Most-Evil-Wizard-Of-All-Time aimed at the pixies that gnawed away at the protective sphere with rapid speed. But he couldn't aim properly because pixies were also dangling from his wand hand, their teeth deep in his flesh. He was shouting spells to immobilise the pixies and the house-elves. But he couldn't pronounce them properly because the pixies that sat on his shoulders punched his cheeks with their little fists and kicked his throat with their feet.  
In all the mayhem, three house-elves sized the Not-So-Evil-Wizard, manoeuvred him out off the door and propelled him down the stairs. They had to fight off the pixies, too, but house-elves are good at dealing with such pests.  
Unfortunately, the house-elves had also forgotten one thing. They had forgotten that they had onlookers. One of the pixies discovered them behind a grate. It attacked the grate at once. Other pixies ran to its aid and they did away with the grate in no time at all.  
Several house-elves rushed forward to seal the opening. They managed to do this quite quickly, but the pixies had been quicker. They had managed to pull something into the room, something nobody had seen. With piercing screams of triumph, they bounced up and down on an invisible thing that lay on the floor. And then, the Invisibility Cloak came off. On the floor, there lay Harry Potter. Sixty angry pixies pinned him down with all their strength.  
This time, the The-Most-Evil-Wizard-Of-All-Time could aim properly because no pixies were dangling from his wand hand.  
The two nearest house-elves jumped to throw themselves into the path of the green light, but they were too slow. Harry Potter was hit squarely in the chest and moved no more. The pixies screeched in terror and fled the room.  
There was silence. This silence hurt more than the most severe punishment. One by one, the house-elves dropped to their knees around the fallen young hero.  
They had failed.

The house-elves were still too shocked even to cry when suddenly the roof disappeared. The walls of the Shrieking Shack fell away, too. There was a rampaging giant. The timbers looked like matchsticks in his enormous hands.  
There were also many other people – witches and wizards, students and teachers. They were all shouting for Harry Potter. They thought Harry Potter had been taken hostage by the The-Most-Evil-Wizard-Of-All-Time, and they had come to free him.  
When they saw what had happened they started crying and wailing.  
Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom rushed to where poor Harry Potter lay. They sank down next to him and sobbed.  
But after a minute or so, Hermione Granger cried, "The snake! We must kill the snake!"  
Ron Weasley handed a weapon that looked like a fang to Neville Longbottom, and Neville Longbottom stabbed the snake through one of the many holes that the pixies had gnawed into the magic sphere. The snake died.  
At the very same moment, Harry Potter stirred.  
The-Most-Evil-Wizard-Of-All-Time stirred, too. In their grief, the house-elves had not paid attention to the dangerous wizard and how he had lain motionless on the floorboards. Now, they screamed in terror and surprise. Most of the humans also screamed.  
Harry Potter and The-Most-Evil-Wizard-Of-All-Time got to their feet and pointed their wands at each other.  
Harry Potter told the house-elves, witches and wizards to stand back.  
"I don't want anyone else to try to help," he said fearlessly. "It's got to be me."  
That was why Harry Potter and The-Most-Evil-Wizard-Of-All-Time then stood alone on what was left of the Shrieking Shack. It was as if they were standing on a stage. Everybody was watching them with bated breath.  
The-Most-Evil-Wizard-Of-All-Time sneered at the valiant young wizard, insulted him and called him a coward. Though, he could not intimidate brave Harry Potter. They argued. And while they argued, they moved in a steady circle around each other.  
They argued mostly about wands and advanced magic – complicated things the house-elves didn't quite understand. The-Most-Evil-Wizard-Of-All-Time thought that he knew so much more than Harry Potter, but he didn't. And when Harry Potter told him he should repent the deeds he had done, the hideous man laughed a horrible laugh.  
And then... The-Most-Evil-Wizard-Of-All-Time shrieked the Killing Curse. But Harry Potter brought off a powerful Protective Charm. The Killing Curse rebounded and hit its caster.

The house-elf paused to re-read what he had written. Those things had happened many years ago. A whole new generation was at Hogwarts now – the sons and daughters of the students that had fought against The-Most-Evil-Wizard-Of-All-Time.  
Life had changed since then. Under the new headmistress, house-elves got one day off every week. They also got payment – shiny, silvery Sickles – if they wanted to. Harry Potter and his friend Ron Weasley were Aurors now, and Hermione Weasley still fought for elf rights. She had a position in the Ministry, too. Ginny Potter worked at St Mungo's. Luna Lovegood had become an explorer. And Professor Longbottom taught Herbology. Draco Malfoy had a desk job at Gringotts, and his wife, Pansy Malfoy, worked for _Witch's Weekly_. The paper was planning a special edition for the twentieth anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts next spring. They wanted a report about how Severus Snape had been rescued, and Pansy Malfoy had said she wanted the report written from the house-elves' point of view.  
It was a great honour. The house-elf dipped the quill into the ink and went on with his writing.

Severus Snape was arrested along with the other Death Eaters. The Aurors questioned him, but he wouldn't give them answers. That was why they made him drink Veritaserum. Then, they learned everything. They learned about Professor Albus Dumbledore's crafty plans and how the old wizard had asked Severus Snape to kill him. (There was also a rumour afterwards that Severus Snape had had a romantic relationship with Lily Evans in his younger days.)  
Severus Snape left the Ministry as a free man. He settled down in Spinner's End and became a potions researcher. He is famous now because he invented the Invisibility Potion.  
And Harry Potter visits him at least once a month.


End file.
